Oh, poor neglected blog! So where have I been? Off with Donna to Northern California, seeing family and friends. That’s my alibi, anyway, and here are some photos to prove it:
Dick is an old friend and squadron mate from the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in The Netherlands. Donna and I and Dick and Sheila did a lot of things together back in the day. Dick’s a writer and occasional commenter at this blog, and I’m always flattered when he compliments my own writing. He did not fail to flatter me again this visit, and now my head’s all swollen.
We drove up to Oroville for Aunt Joyce’s 80th birthday party. This is just part of Donna’s clan — there’s a bunch more in SoCal and some in Nevada. “My God, Donna,” I said, “does anyone in your family ever take a break to, like, eat, or watch a movie?”
One of Aunt Joyce’s sons, Mike, is a chef, and this almost-too-pretty-to-eat cake was his creation. i love to cook and consider myself the equal, or the potential equal, of most cooks. Bakers, though, live with the Gods on Mount Olympus, and I bow before them.
Carol Anne and Rob Giustina live at Lake Tahoe. Rob is Donna’s younger brother; he and Carol Anne married a couple of days after our own son married, and we were able to make both weddings. That doesn’t sound like much of a story, until I add that both weddings happened in the days immediately following September 11, 2001, and that the airlines had just started flying again. Rob travels around the world designing and building snowboarding parks — how cool is that? The young man sitting between Donna and me is Spike, Donna’s step-sister Sandi’s son.
The day before we flew home I was able to sandwich in a visit to good old Sacramento State. In these inflationary times it has a grander name: California State University, Sacramento. But when I went in the bookstore to look for replacement car window decals, I found some that still say Sac State, so hooray for tradition.
Did I promise doggie porn? I can’t remember if I did or not, but here’s some anyway:
I took this the morning we left for the airport. Schatzi watched us pack and knew we were leaving; I guess she figured if she pulled out all the stops we’d reconsider. Sometimes, though, you just have to harden your heart and do what needs to be done.